Answering Kevin Garnett's burning question about "max dollars or damn near minimum"

NBA legend Kevin Garnett took to Twitter and reacted to players signing lucrative contracts this offseason.

The legendary former Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics big was curious as to where the mid-level money is. He said players are getting either max or minimum deals:

"A lot of big salaries but where is the mid level bread? Is it max dollars or damn near minimum."

Meanwhile, ESPN salary cap analyst Bobby Marks replied to Kevin Garnett's tweet, breaking down the contracts players have signed for the 2023/24 season.

"Per Marks, out of the 440 players that are under contract for the coming season, 44 of them will earn $30 million or more next season, while the majority of them (285) will earn between $1 million and $10 million, which is below the mid-level ($12,5 million). The rest (111) are above the mid-level, but not on the max level (between $10 million and $29 million)."

Is Kevin Garnett right on his point that teams overpay their superstars?

Kevin Ganett's point is that teams pay their superstars, signing them to max or supermax deals, which leaves little to no flexibility as to how they will fill in the rest of their roster.

Thus, mid-level players have to agree to minimum deals (either veteran minimum or under the mid-level exception) to join a team.

As the salary cap increases year after year, teams can spend more money, yet they decide to overpay their superstars and not create a more balanced roster.

Recent examples are Jaylen Brown's and Anthony Davis' max extensions with the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers, respectively. Brown signed a five-year, $304 million max extension with Boston, the richest deal in NBA history.

Meanwhile, Davis agreed to a three-year, $186 million with the Lakers, which will keep him with the franchise through 2028. The deal includes the largest annual extension of $62 million.

Given that the salary cap will further increase in the coming years, we expect fellow superstars (like Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo) to sign even more lucrative deals in the coming years.

At the same time, players like Fred VanVleet, Jordan Clarkson, Dillon Brooks and D'Angelo Russell signed deals in the mid-level or above this offseason (between $15M and $20 million), which shows that a lot of players have received less lucrative deals because the superstars get overpaid.

It is safe to say here that Kevin Garnett's point is that max and supermax deals have made the NBA a superstars league. A lot of players are underpaid and pushed down to the minimum deals, as max deals leave teams with not enough cap space.